Traditionally, Linux has been the geek OS. A friend of mine says, “Linux is not an OS. It’s a religion.” I would agree that it’s much more than just an operating system, but I think that for some it’s a religion, for some a hobby. It’s a great conversation starter, and when you find another Linux user, you know you found a kindred spirit. I have a feeling many geeks actually like using an obscure OS. It’s kinda fun (in a perverse way, perhaps) that almost no one can sit down in front of my computer and use it, even if they tried. “Can I borrow your computer for a minute? Just need to check my mail.” “Sure…here.” (20 seconds pass) ” !@#! Where’s internet explorer? And where the **** is start?”

Mark is probably right. If he wants to fix bug #1, a certain amount of control needs to be taken away from the community and put in the hands of Canonical. Design is important if you want the market, and the kind of design that geeks like is not what average users want. So if he wants to compete with the big boys on the block, he needs to play the way they play. Make strong decisions you feel are right, make changes, and forge ahead. Sometimes Canonical will make mistakes, that’s inevitable. But it’s the way it goes.

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t bother trying to compete with Microsoft and Apple. In fact, I don’t consider bug #1 a bug at all. There’s a reason I don’t use their operating systems–because I don’t like them. I like using Linux because of the way it’s different from the mainstream systems, and I see no reason that I should care if my neighbor isn’t cool enough to be using the same OS as me .

Bottom line: for what Mark wants to accomplish, he’s probably doing the right thing. But in the process of doing so, he’ll probably lose a bunch of old-time users. Those people will switch to other distros (to distros that are more “Linux-style”), instead of following the Windows/Apple/Android/Ubuntu crowd.

The unfortunately reality is, at the moment its the other way around. After Android, its Ubuntu. Android is by far and away the more popular consumer option at the moment having filled the role of commodity OS in the growing,evolving ARM based mobile device space. Canonical placed its early bets on the netbook as the companion formfactor to the traditional computer. But for all intensive purposes the netbook as a device is dead. Touched based tablets have supplanted them in the market where it matters most because they are much much better at infotainment consumption in an always connected world. And Android is there providing what OEMs need way ahead of anything Canonical can reasonably field as a services offering, especially for ARM devices. Android is the only _linux_ based OS that is showing growth in the wikimedia stats from month to month. Even Ubuntu has been trending downward in those stats for several months now. Unless Canonical can find a way to make itself relevant on consumer grade ARM devices tied to the LTS release and score a solid long term OEM win to put Ubuntu on the map in the tablet space and stick with Ubuntu for 3 product generations Canonical might as well just walk off the field gracefully and let Android 4.x+ be the commodity OS in the consumer space.

-jef

ZOMG!!

I loved to use and work with Ubuntu. Currently I’m using Lucid, because I can stay with Gnome2. Also I’ve installed and recommended Ubuntu for years now, exactly since Hoary.

But with Unity I’ve a lot of problems, I can’t recommend Unity, because I don’t use it and I wouldn’t use it. In fact I’m testing other desktops and distributions to get around Unity and Gnome3. They are designed for 10″ monitors, but I’m using 24″ to 32″ monitors, and it is unusable.

Some of the users that are currently using Ubuntu are not able to use Unity, because they are elder people and it was not possible for them to work with Unity. Others are visually handicapped, they have no choice to see small line, that indicates, how many instances of program are in use. They also can’t see it correctly by the preview of the open windows. This is the result of some tests, that I’ve done with them.

In my opinion Ubuntu is loosing supporters and power users, because they don’t like to work the way, as Mac users like it. Unity and Gnome2 are going in this direction, and I’ve always had problems, using Mac. Though why should I spend my spare time or my work time using an environment, that is not usable for me?
For me it is I don’t like, I don’t use it, I don’t support it.

And it is not the first time, that I’ve left a distribution and a desktop behind, that happened before with SUSE and KDE, because of KDE 4.

Also, Raymond may have done great things but he’s a bit of a jerk. The way towards mainstream adoption use and popularity is focusing the vision of the desktop, not carrying on the tired tradition of customization all over every nook and cranny. For that appetite exists the derivatives. He says XFCE is what he’s using. Great! Xubuntu is an official derivative. No need to get your panties in a bunch.

Yes, playing nicely with non-free software is essential to getting free software into the mainstream. Fundamentalism achieves much less than pragmatism. If free software is the best way, you should have confidence in its ability to grow and take over once it has a foothold, and encouraging people to try it means accepting they will live in a mixed world for a while.

Thanks, now lead-free